


The one I have left

by Renkocchi



Category: DreamWorks Dragons (Cartoon), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Family Feels, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 07:09:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15189488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Renkocchi/pseuds/Renkocchi
Summary: When a Stormcutter shows up shortly after Hiccup’s twentieth birthday, Stoick can’t help but fear that history is about to repeat itself.





	The one I have left

**Author's Note:**

> This was made from a prompt on tumblr, made by @httyd-fic-prompts. Their blog and prompts are really great :>   
> Kudos and comments are all welcome and appreciated!  
> Thank you for reading! <3

As Hiccup grew older and his build wasn’t getting much bigger, Stoick began realising that he took after his mother. He’d forgotten that possibility, and, be it by accident or on purpose, it never occurred to him. Hiccup’s talks about peace with dragons before his battle with the Red Death, all those long years ago, was oddly reminiscent of Valka’s -Stoick’s wife and Hiccup’s mother - dreams about a day when humans and dragons could live together. The man always thought about his wife, he’d never forgotten her, but from the day the peace was made, he couldn’t get her out of his mind. Oh how proud she’d be of their boy, how she’d hug them both, as she used to do back when Hiccup was only a babe, back when she was still around.

Now, it had only been a few months since Hiccup returned from the Edge once and for all. Sure, Stoick was proud of his son’s achievements, but he was also well aware of the dangers he had come across. So before everything else, he was relieved to have him back on Berk. The last thing he wanted was to lose him too, and he’d come close to that numerous times in the past years. Thus, with Hiccup on Berk, Stoick thought he could live without having to worry about whether his son was in danger or not. Until an incident locked the unbearably heavy sense of worry back into the man’s stomach.

It hadn’t even been a week after Hiccup’s twentieth birthday. It was the same fateful day as the one exactly twenty years ago, when Valka was snatched right in front of Stoick’s eyes. The father always had many emotions fighting over him on such an anniversary. Anger, guilt, sadness, fear. Helplessness. Even Hiccup knew it wasn’t a good day to talk to his father about anything. On this day Stoick wouldn’t even do his chiefly duties. It was always up to Gobber and Hiccup to manage. He would only grieve. And regret being unable to save his wife. That’s what got to him, his uselessness in that particular situation. If only he’d noticed earlier, if only he’d been faster, braver even, then he would have been able to save her.

He knew it was pointless to think of those things repeatedly, year after year, but he couldn’t stop the thoughts from floating around his mind. And it wasn’t on that day only, either. Whenever he’d look at his son and see Valka in his eyes, that guilt would twist it’s knife further into the chief’s heart.

When Gobber barged into Stoick’s room, the man frowned. Gobber should have known better, he should have known that nobody was to bother him on that particular day. However, even in his grieving state, Stoick could notice the seriousness of the situation only by looking at his friend’s face.

“What is-” before Stoick could finish his sentence, the other man took a sharp breath before announcing:

“It’s Hiccup.”

 

\----------------  
“Weird.” Hiccup panted, out of breath “Stormcutters are usually friendly.” The boy, now closer to being called a man, tried to take a step forward, before the dragon growled at him. “Okay.” He raised his hands and backtracked. He was already covered in bruises and cuts, he really didn’t want another piece of his body being cut off. He didn’t risk doing anything aggressive or sudden. He only stood, taking a good look at the Dragon.

It too, had cuts and scars all over his body. Stormcutters were magnificent dragons, beautiful, proud. The scars gave away why that particular beast was being aggressive. It didn’t look like it had nice connections with humans. Hunters were probably the ones behind his marks and injuries.

So, Hiccup let his hands fall and got rid of his pocket knife, he moved slightly, paying no mind to the rising volume of the Stormcutter’s growl. He got a little closer, and then a little bit more. He stretched out his hand, and…

“Hiccup!!” A loud, earth-shattering scream came from nearby. The dragon jumped, made a flinch-like movement and went back to growling at Hiccup. Except now, it attacked him too.

He let out a short, cut-off scream, before hitting the ground with his head. It didn’t take a minute for his surroundings to begin to look blurry. By the time that happened, Stoick was frozen in place, staring with pure, solid fear at the tragedy that was about to repeat itself. Gobber caught up with him soon enough to see the scene too.

Stoick felt as if his heart had stopped beating. The same dragon species, in that same day, twenty years after his wife was taken away from him, was about to take his son away too. He couldn’t let that happen. He wouldn’t let that happen.

“No…”

At the barely moving form of Hiccup, Stoick ran. His weapon in hand, he tried to shoo the enormous dragon away. It’s claws had pinned the semi conscious boy to the ground. It seemed immovable, but when Gobber joined in the attack, it made a hissing sound, growled, roared in a volume high enough to almosy deafen them, and finally flew off, away from the forest of Berk. Away from the peaceful island.

The father kept looking at the sky until the beast disappeared, then he keeled down and took his son in his arms. Surprised, he realised that the one trembling of fear was not his son, but himself. He stroked his hair.

“Hiccup, son…” The boy coughed at that, took in a breath, opened his eyes. He wasn’t actually expecting to see his father tear up. Stoick embraced him, told him he was glad he was okay.

Hiccup hadn’t made the connection in his mind, too busy trying to keep the Stormcutter docile, but now, even in the cloudy state his mind was in, he could understand why his father was acting up. Sure he’d always been over protective, but he’d never done that before. A stormcutter attacking him on a day like that one, wasn’t the best scenario possible.

“I’m sorry, Dad…” I’m sorry I made you relive such a moment.

At that, Stoick only embraced him harder. He would never let anyone or anything take his son away. He’d keep him safe. He had to. For himself. For Valka.


End file.
